2010 Top Gear Awards: Cabriolet of the Year

Slapping at the paddles, the GranCabrio seems to shrug off
much of its size and weight, the steering impressively precise and the body
immensely stable in tight, fast corners. As the sound of the engine echoes off
the blank rock faces - that deep, almost hollow roar that tightens the stomach
- it's easy to forget that this car is 5,000 miles from home. The relationship
between Italian V8 and mountain switchbacks is universal, and there are few
more symbiotic and life-affirming unions in motoring than this one.

The Maserati makes greedy, brilliant progress across the
miles of winding blacktop, the only thing able to check its progress now being
the setting sun, dropping fast behind the slowly blackening hills.